UFC on FOX 7 adds Dan Hardy vs. Matt Brown to San Jose lineup

Remember that one time when Dan Hardy called out Matt Brown for his next fight, and Brown was all about it?

That fight now is happening. UFC officials late Tuesday announced the booking, which earlier in the day was reported by ESPN.

Hardy (25-10 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Brown (16-11 MMA, 6-5 UFC) will meet at UFC on FOX 7, which takes place April 20 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The main card will be broadcast on FOX following expected prelims on FX and Facebook.

The card will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Benson Henderson and final Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez, plus a heavyweight fight between former champ Frank Mir and Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champ Daniel Cormier.

Hardy in September made it two in a row with a unanimous decision win over Amir Sadollah in front of his hometown crowd in Nottingham, England, at UFC on FUEL TV 5. In May, Hardy snapped a four-fight skid with a “Knockout of the Night” win over Duane Ludwig at UFC 146.

His four-fight losing streak wasn’t enough to cost him his job in the UFC, as it would for many fighters. UFC brass, including president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, were outspoken about their love of the Brit’s fighting style. His skid started with a welterweight title fight loss to champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 111, then including a knockout loss to Carlos Condit, a decision loss to Anthony Johnson and a submission loss to Chris Lytle in a “Fight of the Night” performance.

But energized with a two-fight streak and looking for a fight, Hardy this past month in Australia at a Q&A session at UFC on FX 6 said he had been impressed with Brown and would welcome a fight with him. Brown responded in kind on Twitter, and the two did UFC matchmaker Joe Silva’s work for him.

Brown has won four straight and five of his past six fights. In December at UFC on FOX 5, he starched Mike Swick with a second-round knockout. Prior to that, he stopped Luis Ramos with a second-round TKO, beat up Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson for three rounds and stopped Chris Cope with second-round punches.

The five wins in six fights were a stark reversal of a three-fight skid in 2010 that had him suffering three straight submission setbacks – and had him on the verge of a pink slip from the UFC. But he survived with a decision win over John Howard and after a submission loss to Seth Baczynski at UFC 139, he started his current tear.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?